Bottle Bomb

Ok so I am upset with myself because I did not follow my gut ... I had made a Jamaican Ginger non alcoholic beer (read my threads and you will see the process and pictures) which came out wonderful, so much so that my Jamaican friends actually said that it reminded them of back home and that I should add some pimento (allspice) to cause fermentation and just cap it tight as they do back home and in about two weeks you open the jug and it will be even better. So here goes my dilemma, I know that fermentation causes gases so why would I cap them tight and knowing this I wanted to add an airlock to the 3 liter jug but went against my judgement since I was being told that in Jamaica they don't add any airlock and if I wanted to do it as they do just cap it tight........ Well yesterday I came home to the 3 liter jug in a million pieces,:smack: glass thrown as far as 12 feet and sticky ginger beer all over. I spent 3 hours cleaning yesterday and today I woke up to clean more since it still smells like Ginger beer and i keep finding spots where some sticky splattered..

So other than avoiding my gut feeling did I do anything else wrong? I want to remake it but I am thinking twice about it since I dont want another mess.

Pictures?

Sorry i was so busy with moping and wiping that i didn't take any pictures while i was picking up glass

If you are ever in doubt, ever worried there might be a "bottle bomb", place it inside a sturdy cardboard box. Then you can at least contain the mess.

Maybe there is a wait time before you "cap it tightly" and the well-meaning person just forgot to tell you this step. At some point, probably, yes, you cap it tightly like they do in Jamaica, but after how many days do you put that tight cap on, probably they wait a few until most of the gases die down. Should have gone with your gut feeling, you'll know next time....

BobbiLynn said:

If you are ever in doubt, ever worried there might be a "bottle bomb", place it inside a sturdy cardboard box. Then you can at least contain the mess.

Maybe there is a wait time before you "cap it tightly" and the well-meaning person just forgot to tell you this step. At some point, probably, yes, you cap it tightly like they do in Jamaica, but after how many days do you put that tight cap on, probably they wait a few until most of the gases die down. Should have gone with your gut feeling, you'll know next time....

Click to expand...

Thanks, i will ask that and believe me when i remake it (cause I'm not giving up) an airlock is going on for sure .

For soda pop you need to use PET plastic bottles with twist on caps. Homebrew shops sell them. Plastic expands...glass explodes...If your non alcoholic gingerbeer is really highly carbonated even a standard beer bottle capped could be a bottle bomb. It really depends on how much fizz you have.

2 liter soda bottles of generic soda from the grocery store will also work. Chances are youwill drink it before the bottle reaches maximum PSI and Pops...thats why they call it "pop"

You can also use champagne bottles for making soda. They will hold much higher pressure than standard bomber bottles or 12 ounce beer bottles. Just make sure that the bottle cap is a standard sized cap. French champagnes have a 29mm cap instead of the standard beer cap.

Domestic sparkling wines have a standard cap. Lucky for me I've got a champagne producer down the road. I'm lucky to stop by and get bottles from the tasting room anytime I need.

Good to know... i might just make it in a pet bottle this time and this way if any expansion occurs i will notice right away

Thanks

Follow up;
So i spoke to my Jamaican friend and she felt bad about what happened so she called her mother in Jamaica who told her that they never cap tight their ginger beer but what they do is place a piece of cloth on the mouth of the container and then cap it. In essence creating a sort airlock and it gets uncapped after 2 weeks ......

I am remaking it today but my version will have an airlock

I figured something got lost in the translation... now you will know what to do. Good luck with it and keep us posted!

Will do...Thanks

Update

Today i re-made the Jamaican Ginger beer but i couldn't get passed the bottle bomb so i put an airlock..

Update..

After racking/ topping off and tasting (which is great) now all i have to do is age til Christmas

Big_Cat said:

Update..

After racking/ topping off and tasting (which is great) now all i have to do is age til Christmas

Click to expand...

It looks like you have headphones on the jug.

Lol no headphones just a rubberband to hold my notes and the cap to the jug